Origin
Upton : English: habitational name from any of the many places in England called Upton most of which are named with Old English upp ‘upper’ + tūn ‘farmstead estate’ though some have different origins such as one in Essex originally named with the phrase upp in tūne ‘up in the settlement’ i.e. the higher part of the settlement and Upton Lovell (Wiltshire) which derives from the Old English personal name Ubba + Old English tūn. This name was brought to Ireland (Antrim) in 1598 by Henry Upton from Upton in Devon.
Beeden : 1: from either Bidon or La Ville-Bidon (Ille-et-Villaine Brittany). The short vowel of Bidon was frequently lowered and lengthened to produce the spellings Beedon and Beeden. Stow Bedon and Kirby Bedon Norfolk were held by John de Bidun in 1212. It is probably the principal source of the surname Beedon in E Anglia and a contributor to Bedden in the Midlands. Some bearers listed below may however belong at (2). 2: from any of various places named with Old English byden ‘vessel for liquids’ in a transferred topographic sense such as ‘tub-shaped hollow’ or ‘narrow steep valley’. These include Benna in Christow Betham in Witheridge and Bidna in Northam (all in Devon) Bidden in Upton Grey (Hants) and Beedon (Berks). Early surname forms with atte are more likely to be topographic alluding not to a settlement but to a local landscape feature named with Middle English biden (western dialect) buden reflexes of the Old English word. Surnames with this etymology will be pronounced /'bɪdən/ or /'bi:den/ as in (1) and some bearers listed below may alternatively belong at (1).from Baydon (Wilts) or Beadon (in Hennock Devon) both possibly ‘berry hill’ from Old English beg + dūn. Alternatively the first element is the Old English female personal name Bēage (related to Old English bēag Middle English bei biʒe bye) ‘ring bracelet torque’. This would explain the 1327 surname de Bigedene in East Meon (Hants) with the not uncommon Middle English substitution of -den for -don in the Wilts place-name. The 1332 example in Lustleigh (adjacent to Hennock) clearly belongs to Beadon and the 1377 and 1381 examples of Beydon in Wilts and Surrey allude to Baydon as may do a number of examples spelled Bidon Bydon Byden etc. pronounced /'baidən/ in Modern English.for someone who lived by the hill from Middle English bi doun (Old English Middle English dūn ‘hill’) as in the 1332 Bishop's Tawton (Devon) example. 3: from Beeding (Sussex) recorded as æt Beadingum (about 880) Bedingges (1073) Beding (1327) and Byding (1330 1362) in Place-Names of Sussex. The place-name denoted ‘the people of Bēada’ from an Old English personal name + the Old English plural suffix -ingas forming folk-names. In the surname the final -ing may sometimes have been reduced to -en but some bearers listed below may belong at other senses. 4: see Beedham probably a major source of the name in the E Midlands.
Biddiscombe : from Bittescombe in Upton (Somerset). An alternative or additional source may be Biddlecombe (Byttelcomb 1330) in Chudleigh (Devon) but the distribution suits Bittescombe better. The Somerset place-name is from an Old English male personal name *Bit(t)el in the genitive case with -es + cumb ‘valley’; the Devon one is the cumb of Bit(t)ela.
Coulsdon : from Cowsden in Upton Snodsbury (Worcs) recorded as Coulesdon in 1198 or Coulsdon in Surrey.
Creedy : 1: from North Creedy in Sandford or Lower Creedy in Upton Hellions (Devon). 2: from Mac Riada see McCready.
Hellings : 1: English (Devon and Cornwall): variant of Helling with post-medieval excrescent -s. The surname is associated chiefly with Devon where the family held land at Upton Hellions from the 13th century onward.2: Dutch and German: genitivized form of Helling 4.
Northridge : English (Derbyshire and Yorkshire): habitational name from Norridge in Upton Scudamore (Wiltshire) or from a similarly named but unidentified places elsewhere. The placename derives from Middle English north ‘north’ + rigge ‘ridge’ (Old English north hrycg). There may have been some confusion with Norwich.
Pincott : 1: from Pincott in Upton Saint Leonards (Gloucs) which is recorded as Pinnecote in 1267 and Pynicot in 1321. The place-name derives from the Old English personal name Pinna + Old English cot ‘cottage shelter’. 2: variant of Pennicott. 3: variant of Picknett with metathesis of -n- and -c(k)- perhaps through influence from (2).
Ratley : English: perhaps a habitational name from Ratley part of Ratley and Upton (Warwickshire) recorded as Rotelei in 1086. The placename derives from Old English rōt ‘tree root’ + lēah ‘woodland clearing’. However better late medieval bearer evidence is needed to establish that this is the origin of the surname.
Rolleston : 1: in the Midlands from Rolleston (Leics Notts Staffs) and perhaps Rowston (Lincs); in ER Yorks from Rolston (or Rowlston) in Mappleton (ER Yorks); and in SW England from Rollestone in Upton Pyne or Rolstone Barton in Morchard Bishop (both in Devon) or Rollestone (Wilts) and perhaps Rowlestone (Herefs) or Rolstone in Banwell (Somerset). The place-names have various etymological origins though most are named with the Middle English personal name Rolf or the Old Scandinavian personal name Hrólfr + Middle English toun ‘town settlement’ Old English tūn ‘farmstead estate’. It is possible that some of the following bearers belong with (2) particularly the Yorks examples. 2: variant of Rollinson reduced to Rolleson and altered by the addition of an intrusive -t- as though it were a locative name in -ston. Compare Thomas Rolleson' 1377 in Poll Tax (Kingston upon Hull ER Yorks) and Christopher Rollston 1723 Henry Rowlstone 1763 in IGI (Kingston upon Hull ER Yorks).
Rolston : English (Leicestershire):: 1: habitational name either from Rolleston (Leicestershire Nottinghamshire Staffordshire) and perhaps Rowston (Lincolnshire) Rolston (or Rowlston) in Mappleton (East Yorkshire) or from Rollestone in Upton Pyne or Rolstone Barton in Morchard Bishop (both in Devon) or Rollestone (Wiltshire) and perhaps Rowlestone (Herefordshire) or Rolstone in Banwell (Somerset). The placenames have various etymological origins though most are named with the Middle English personal name Rolf or the Old Norse personal name Hrólfr + Middle English toun ‘town settlement’ Old English tūn ‘farmstead estate’. See Rolfe.2: variant of Rollison shortened to Rolleson and altered by the addition of an intrusive -t- as though it were a habitational name in -ston.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
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